


Basketball Is Queer

by endlessfandomedits



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Basketball, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Human Catra (She-Ra), Jock Adora (She-Ra), Lesbian Adora (She-Ra), Lesbian Catra (She-Ra), Lesbian Disaster Adora (She-Ra), Lesbian Disaster Catra (She-Ra), Let Catra (She-Ra) Say Fuck, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26057986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endlessfandomedits/pseuds/endlessfandomedits
Summary: Adora's college basketball team at Bright Moon U. loses 7 of its players a month before the season starts. The team is scrambling to find replacement players so they can qualify as a team. Luckily, Bow and Sea Hawk play pickup with a certain brown-haired girl and her friends. Maybe they'd be up for joining the team?A catradora college AU with basketball because it's a queer sport.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Entrapta & Scorpia (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Comments: 45
Kudos: 143





	1. [GROUP CHAT: IF WE COULD MAKE BBALL GAYER WE WOULD]

**Author's Note:**

> This is mildly inspired by the first episode of One Tree Hill so please don't shame me. This is the first fic I've written in like 7 years so please let me know if there's anything I can do to make the story....better. IDK man She Ra is just so fucking good I had to write something.  
> This is just the first chapter. The whole story isn't in this group chat format, I just wanted to get a feel for these characters before I dove in with the dialogue. I have a plan for the rest of the story, but let me know in the comments if this story is intriguing or not. Please leave comments if you have constructive criticism or kudos if you like where this is going!

**Sept. 28**

**[GROUP CHAT: IF WE COULD MAKE BBALL GAYER WE WOULD]**

**Adora** : Did you guys see the email from Angella?

If not look

Like

Sooner rather than later

By that I mean now

 **Mermista** : or you could just tell us since you’re here

 **Frosta** : I like what Mermista said

 **Glimmer** :  [Image Attached] 

**Frosta** : You’re fucking with me

Seriously?

 **Glimmer** : I mean I don’t know what they expected

you can’t be caught drunk and high at a party and expect to not get reprimanded

 **Frosta** : I don’t give a fuck about them

I’m pissed that we lost 7 players a month before the season starts

 **Adora** : What the are we gonna do

 **Perfuma** : We’re going to stay positive and not go to a dark place!

 **Huntara** : How is this news not supposed to send us to a dark place?

 **Perfuma** : BY STAYING POSITIVE

 **Bow** : Just stay positive!

Jinx!

 **Mermista** : okay, well if there’s no way we can get them back on the team can we maybe talk about what we’re gonna do??

 **Glimmer** : mermista’s right

do we even technically have a team if there’s only 9 of us left? 

**Bow** : The short answer is...no

But! The long answer is that technically college teams only need to have 13 people on the bench to compete in games so…. 

**Perfuma** : Does anyone have any ideas of where we can find 4 lovely ladies willing to join?

 **Adora** : They don’t even need to actually play, if we all play more minutes we only need people who can sit on the bench and say they play

 **Netossa** : Right, but if they can play that would be better

No one’s gonna get better if we’re practicing against people who’ve never played

 **Spinnerella** : I think Netossa just doesn’t want us getting soft at practice lol

 **Sea Hawk** : I have an idea

 **Mermista** : NO

 **Glimmer** : NO

 **Adora** : Please god no

 **Bow** : HEy

Sea Hawk has ideas too!

 **Mermista** : no one is saying he doesn’t have ideas

 **Glimmer** : the issue is the quality of the ideas

 **Adora** : The issue for me is actually the flammability of the ideas

Is flammability a word?

 **Sea Hawk** : ANYWAYS

MY IDEA actually has nothing to do with fire yet

 **Mermista** : dude why do you have to include yet

 **Adora** : It either includes fire or it doesn’t seahawk

 **SeaHawk** : Bow and I play pickup at the gym with some young ladies who are QUITE GOOD

Mermista met them and even said they were good

 **Bow** : THAT’S PERFECT

 **Mermista** : he’s right they’re actually not bad

 **Glimmer** : if they’re so good then why didn’t they tryout?

 **Bow** : They think the team is…. Pretentious?

 **Glimmer** : then how is this idea perfect?!?!

 **Adora** : We should see them play. If they’re good we can ask if they’ll reconsider trying out

 **Perfuma** : This could be a great opportunity to branch out and make new friends!

 **Netossa** : This could be a great opportunity to make sure the team can still compete

 **Frosta** : This could be a great opportunity to assert dominance over strangers

 **Bow** : ….. Ignoring that

We usually go to the gym and meet up with them at like 8ish?

Is anyone free to go over tomorrow around then?

 **Adora** : I am

 **Mermista** : same

 **Sea Hawk** : ADVENTURE

 **Mermista** : nvm

 **Glimmer** : I’ll go too

meet at the front at 8?

 **Bow** : YEET

 **Adora** : Cool

 **Perfuma** : I have to say I have a great feeling about this!


	2. FML but make it Catra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a huge lez who actually did play basketball for a long time and I'm still a huge fan so if y'all want in-depth basketball scenes I WILL DELIVER. Also yeah, I'll probably update every Saturday. I have a plan for this; I even made a basketball rotation chart to approximate the minutes of each player. So yeah, I'm invested in this story. I want to give time to each character, not just Catra and Adora so lmk which characters you want to see explored most. Send vibes via the comment section and the kudos button.

**Sept. 29**

Catra’s POV

Catra would never get used to Bright Moon U’s absolutely massive gym. It’s two stories with an indoor track and two basketball courts next to each other, not to mention the designated workout areas for lifting weights and doing classes. One of the courts was usually used for shootaround and the other for scrimmages. For the last two months Catra, Entrapta, Scorpia, Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle had laid their claim to the left court for scrimmages against whoever dared challenge them. 

At first, it was just Catra, Entrapta, and Scorpia shooting around and finding their way into the pickup games every night. Well, mostly Catra and Scorpia, Entrapta just liked to watch and give advice on how they could be “4% more efficient by driving to the basket for a floater instead of settling for the midrange shot”. Then Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle kept coming at the same time as them and asking to share the court. And it’s impossible to be in the same room as Scorpia and not come out of it good friends. Catra knew this from personal experience considering it was how Scorpia had roped her into becoming part of the “Best Pal Trio”. 

Catra met Scorpia and Entrapta in her first year at Fright Zone City College. She had gone into her first year alone, more alone than she had expected. She was supposed to be going with her friend, her best friend, her-- nope. We’re not doing that right now. 

Anyways, they all had the same Intro to Philosophy course and they had just bonded all class. It was actually the perfect dynamic. Scorpia was so affectionate and positive that none of the offhanded remarks that Catra and Entrapta had a habit of making could dissuade her from their friendship. Entrapta spent the whole semester bickering with the professor about how there were logical answers to the theoretical situations he kept proposing. 

It wasn’t until a few weeks into their first semester that Catra realized Scorpia was also trying out for the FZCC basketball team. It made sense, Scorpia was a giant buff lady. It also meant that Catra had a friend on the team. They both made the team easily and spent an embarrassingly large amount of time together during their two years there. Any time Entrapta didn’t spend taking apart her microwave or running experiments on her roommates was also spent with Catra and Scorpia.

  
  


And Catra learned, maybe for the first time, that friendships weren’t just opportunities to get let down later. Catra knew she loved hard and all at once, but for the first time, she realized she could be a good friend, too. With her, it was all or nothing. Catra didn’t have a habit of making casual friends, she would either kill for you, or she couldn’t care less. But Scorpia and Entrapta, she would kill for.

  
  


Luckily, Scorpia hadn’t come up with a team name for the group that got together almost every night to play. 

  
  


Then there was Arrow boy and Hawk dude who came to play with them fairly often. Like with everyone, Catra was annoyed when they first started trying to share the court with them, but eventually, they both grew on her. In the exact opposite ways, too. Bow was like Scorpia, a beacon of positivity, and always encouraging her after every shot, whether she missed or made it. And SeaHawk, well, he was just funny. At first, she thought this whole “ADVENTURE” thing was an act, she still kind of thinks it is, but anyone who commits to a character for that long deserves their props. And she understood it more when his “darling Mermista” finally came around. She was pretty cool too. Also hot. Mermista was objectively hot and that made SeaHawk’s commitment to the persona even more understandable. Maybe she was into the whole pirate, mustache, and fire thing. 

But tonight was a normal night. Catra showed up with Entrapta and Scorpia after dinner and got a quick few miles in on the treadmill to warm up before going down to the court to ruin some people’s nights. By that, she means scrimmage some suckers who never stood a chance for a few hours until the only people left were her, Scorpia, Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle (with Entrapta on the sidelines cheering them on). It was almost 8:30 which meant that they had been playing for about an hour. That was usually when the other teams stopped trying to play them and they would start playing 3v3 with each other. And if Arrow Boy and SeaHawk showed up, which was about every other day, Entrapta and Kyle could sit out, which meant the game got way more interesting. And once they all became acquainted with each other’s playstyles, the games got more and more competitive. They change the teams up a few times every night to keep it interesting. 

“Okay that was way too easy,” Catra said as she dribbled the ball back to the bench where Entrapta was sitting. She opened her water bottle and took a few sips as she was joined by Scorpia and Lonnie who were also coming off the court. 

“They really didn’t stand a chance” Entrapta responds, glancing at the 5 dejected men walking off the court, “The last time you guys played each other they lost embarrassingly. That being said, they played better today, scoring 7 points instead of 5”.

Lonnie finished her water before chiming in, “Yeah, and we could play them every day for a year and they wouldn’t score more than 10 on us. Where’s the real competition?” She put the bottle back on the bench, stole the ball from Catra, and walked back to the hoop where Rogelio and Kyle were talking.

“She’s right, I could use a good challenge. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually hope Bow and SeaHawk show up” Catra chuckled at herself. Scorpia almost choked on her water at the statement.

“Awww Wildcat, you do care!” Scorpia pulled Catra into a sweaty hug and pressed their pink cheeks together, missing Catra’s scowl and eye roll. 

Entrapta pulled her recorder out and spoke into it: “Scorpia claims that Catra does, in fact, care. This can only be supported by the fact that Catra is allowing Scorpia to hold her in an affectionate manner”. Which causes Catra to shake out of the embrace, groaning and scowling harder somehow. 

“I don’t care! I just want a real workout. It’s so _boring_ playing against all these wimps” 

“I don’t know, Catra, you seemed to be pretty chummy with Bow and Sea Hawk a few days ago. I think this is the beginning of some beautiful friendships” Scorpia couldn’t help the cheeky grin from spreading across her face. Honestly, a giant smile fit better on her face than any other expression. It seemed like the white-haired girl’s natural disposition was cheery. 

Catra groaned before responding: “Can’t you let me go a day without being accused of liking people?” She turned away from Scorpia and Entrapta and started walking back onto the court, “Just let me not like people in peace!”

Catra made her way over to Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle who are shooting around close enough to the basket that Kyle can play. Catra shoots around with them, playing 2v2 while Scorpia watches with Entrapta. 

Catra was dribbling, facing the basket when she heard Bow’s voice behind her: “Hey, guys!” 

Catra responded with a yell before turning around: “Nice of you to finally join us” When she turned her head she wasn’t met with the familiar sight of Bow and Sea Hawk ready to join. There were five people standing on the edge of the court. She recognized four of them. The only unfamiliar face was a girl with pink dyed hair. She’d be cute if she wasn’t scowling directly at Catra. 

Catra’s eyes fell upon a familiar blonde ponytail and pair of striking blue eyes. She said the only thing that could come to mind, “Well fuck my ass”.


	3. Adora has left the building

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora was staring at Catra and Catra was staring at Adora and Bow and Glimmer were staring at everyone and Mermista and SeaHawk were staring at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can have 2300 words... as a treat!

**Sept. 29**

Adora’s POV

Adora, Bow, and Glimmer arrived at BMU’s gym at 7:55. Admittedly, Adora didn’t spend much time at this gym. She practiced and worked out with her team for over four hours every day and any extra working out that she wanted to do could be done in the team’s private facilities. But being at the gym for the first time since last year is the least odd part of this night. Part of Adora was suspicious of these girls. Why did the team have to come here to see them play? The three of them waited in front of the gym for their two friends.

Mermista and Sea Hawk arrived last. As they’re walking up, Mermista addresses the group.

She looked at the three friends and raised her hand, “Before anyone asks, yes, Sea Hawk was my ride, but he was _just_ my ride and I won’t be answering any questions about it”

Bow and Glimmer share a look before shrugging. The group walks inside the doors and are greeted by nods from the student workers behind the desks. Bow pulls out his student ID card to swipe it and enter through the turnstile: “So, before we see them I should warn you. They can be a little bit, um, prickly”

Glimmer does nothing to hide her grimace: “What do you mean by prickly?”

“Just that they’re not super social,” Bow leads them upstairs to the balcony overlooking the courts “They’re really nice, they just take some time to warm up to”

“Especially Catra” Sea Hawk chimes in, “She had me thinking she didn’t like my shanties for weeks before I cracked her cool exterior!” He throws his fist in the air to emphasize his point.

Suddenly the world felt like it was being sucked into a cold vacuum. Adora stops, no longer concerned with why they’re here or any other details of the night other than that name: Catra. It couldn’t be her Catra could it?

“Um, I think Adora has, like, left the building” Mermista’s voice cut through the fog.

Glimmer turns around and puts her hand on Adora’s shoulder, “Hey, are you alright, it looks like you zoned out on us”

Adora’s looking down and finding it hard to get her words out, “No, no I’m not fine. Bow?”

“Yeah?”

“Catra. What does she look like?”

Bow’s eyebrows raise in worry as he looks between Adora and Glimmer “Oh um, she’s super pretty, nice eyes--”

Glimmer cuts in harshly “--yeah we get it, she’s hot, Bow. I think Adora wants more of a detailed description”

“Right right. Um, like 5’3, two different colored eyes, brown hair, kind of snarky, lots of freckles”

Yep, that’s her Catra. 

Adora lets out a shaky breath, “I definitely know her. We went to high school together. We actually played together on the same team. We were… close” The way Adora said close let everyone know what she meant.

Glimmer breaks the silence, “Okay well, we don’t have to do this. We can find other people for the team”

“No, we should watch them. I don’t want a feud from high school to get in the way of our team. And if Catra’s as good as I remember then we’d be lucky to have her”.

Glimmer nods and loops her arm through Adora’s as they keep walking.

They reached the balcony and Adora’s eyes settle on Catra for the first time in almost 2 1/2 years. She can’t make out more than her general figure, but that’s enough to make it feel like the air in Adora’s lungs becomes thick and heavy. It looks like Catra is in the middle of playing 5v5.

She’s on a team of two guys and two girls. And they’re actually really good. Adora didn’t think Bow and Sea Hawk were lying, but she didn’t expect to be happily surprised at the talent levels of the girls. 

Bow interrupts her train of thought and speaks to the whole group: “So the girl with the short white hair is Scorpia. She’s a little timid, but she’s got some great low post moves and I think she could be a force, especially if some of Huntara’s aggression can rub off on her”

The girl with white hair is huge and absolutely jacked. Bow was right, if she learns to use her height and strength more, she would be a force. What was interesting was watching her play with Catra. Adora hadn’t seen Catra play since high school. And she wasn’t used to the idea of Catra playing with someone who wasn’t her. But it was obvious she’d been playing with this Scorpia girl for a while. They read each other well and it looked like they knew what the other was going to do before they did it. 

Bow speaks again: “And the other girl is Lonnie. She’s crazy good on defense, super switchable. She’s quick enough to guard Catra and the other guards”

Bow was right again. Lonnie’s defending one of the guys and had no problem keeping him in front of her. He eventually got flustered and threw the ball away to Catra’s man. Catra had been giving her man just enough room to look open. When the ball flew into his direction, she darted in between them, snatched the ball midair, and headed towards the basket on the other side of the court. Her layup marked the end of the game and the 5 nameless men walked off. 

Bow clears his throat and continues, “And the girl who just scored, that was Catra, and you know… yeah, she’s pretty good, whatever, ” Bow’s eyes glance over everyone’s faces before landing on Adora, who musters up a quick smile. 

Sea Hawk breaks the silence, “So, do they have BMU potential?”

Mermista responds, “I’d like to preface this by saying I don’t care,” She looks at her nails indifferently, “ but I’d be down to bring them on. They’re cool”

“We’d have to make sure everyone on the team is okay with it,” Glimmer’s voice enters a more serious tone, “They’re not gonna make the team just because a few of us watched them play some scrubs at the gym. I want to see how good they are against us”

“We should invite them to practice” Adora speaks and everyone turns to her with varying degrees of concern on their faces.

Bow speaks directly to Adora: “Are you sure? No one would hold it against you if you didn’t want to”

Adora’s face hardens, “No, I want to. Let’s do this,” she hopes her voice doesn’t convey how hard she’s internally hyping herself up right now. Adora starts towards the stairs to get down to the courts like she’s on a mission.

As they approach the courts, Catra is coming more into focus. She’s facing away from them. Adora is trying to come up with a smart first line, something cool but not indifferent. They step onto the court and she knows anything she says will be heard by everyone. Bow cuts off Adora’s train of thought when he screams at everyone on the court. 

“Hey, guys!”

Catra’s voice cut through the sounds of the gym: “Nice of you to finally join us”, she turns around and her eyes settle on the group. She speaks again.

“Well fuck my ass”

\----------------------------------------------------

Adora was staring at Catra and Catra was staring at Adora and Bow and Glimmer were staring at everyone and Mermista and SeaHawk were staring at each other. 

Glimmer finally speaks first, “I’m sorry what?”

Bow chimes in, “I think she said ‘fuck my ass’”

“Yeah, I heard that Bow I was trying to give her an opportunity to say something that actually made sense”

Mermista was already over what was happening here, “Okay well, while you guys do… whatever this is, SeaHawk and I are gonna talk to the others about playing. Okay? Okay” She grabs SeaHawk and walks past Catra, each of them casually nodding, and Seahawk tipping an imaginary hat. 

Adora was still just staring at Catra, feeling more and more nauseated by the second. How is she at BMU? Why isn't she freaking out? Adora’s freaking out, but Catra looks like she’s fine, annoyed sure, but that was normal for her. She looks good-- sweaty, obviously, but also objectively good. She’s obviously been staying in shape (that’s a normal thing to notice right now, it’s important that anyone joining the team was in good shape). Her face is sharper. The rounded edges of 17 were gone, replaced by smooth edges and a sharp jaw. She looks older, calmer, and… happier? Her hair is shorter; It’s being held out of her face by a headband right now. Where was the grey hair behind her ears? Had the hair stopped growing grey or did she cut it off? Why would she cut it off?

Adora thought she had seen every version of Catra, and here she was, existing like a whole new person and Adora didn’t even know. Did she cut her hair short right after graduation? Was this a recent thing? Did she like it? Regret it? Adora likes it, if that means anything. It probably doesn’t. 

It’s weird. Adora knows it’s been years. But it still feels weird to see her face and not be welcomed by a small smirk and a cocked brow. Instead, she’s met with a neutral look, the look you give a stranger when they ask if you can watch their computer while they go to the bathroom. Adora wondered what look she was giving Catra, as she had been so focused on the other girl’s face, she hadn’t even thought of concealing her emotions beneath a polite smile.

Catra finally looks away from Adora and makes eye contact with Bow and Glimmer when she responds, “Is she gonna be okay? She looks like she’s gonna hurl”.

Bow saves the day once again, “Oh, she’ll be fine! We’re actually here to talk to you. We have a proposition for you gals” Bow explained the team’s predicament to Catra. 

Catra finally speaks again, now addressing Bow, as if Adora wasn’t even there: “I mean that sucks that your team’s screwed, but I don’t get what you want from us”

Adora finally worked up the nerve to speak up, still staring at Catra’s eyes, “Look we were watching you play those guys and you were good. Really good”. Adora’s eyes finally break contact before she continues, “Please try out for the team, we could really use you” If Catra is feeling anything about this interaction, she isn’t showing it. Adora can feel her eyes on her, probably still sporting that same uninterested, polite smile. 

Adora looks up to meet her.

“We don’t try out, we’re offer only, princess”

They were bantering. That’s better than screaming at each other. It’s better than most of the scenarios that Adora’s brain came up with.

“Okay, so if we offer you all spots, then you’ll join?”

“I mean, I definitely won’t, but I don’t speak for them”

“What can we do to make you reconsider?”

“I don’t want to reconsider. Not everyone has a hero complex”

Adora knows this isn’t the road she should take if she wants to convince Catra of something. No, she has to challenge Catra. You can’t convince her of anything, you have to make her want to do it. 

“Maybe not. But it just sounds like you’re scared from over here”

“Oh yeah? You think you can take me, princess?” Catra has a familiar light in her eyes, the kind that only shone when there was a challenge on the table, “It’s been a while since we played each other, I don’t want to embarrass you in front of your _friends_ ” She said the last word with a bit more venom than necessary, but Adora suspects she had it coming. 

“I think I can handle myself. I don’t need to tell you how our scrimmages ended before. I doubt it would change this time”

Adora steps closer. She holds her eye contact with Catra and forces herself not to let her eyes dance across her cheeks to count the freckles that lay there.

Catra’s face hardens, “A lot’s changed since then”

“No” Glimmer cuts in between them and grabs Adora’s hand, pulling her away and effectively popping the bubble Catra and she had been in. 

She pulls Adora aside and speaks softly to her, “First of all, I don’t need to tell you how much trouble you’d get if you scrimmaged outside practice. And second of all, we didn’t come here so you could act out some weird fantasy. We came to find players and see if they would join” Glimmer glared at her as if the force of her stare could bring Adora back from her moment with Catra. 

“I didn’t start this!” Adora was starting to feel flustered, why did she always have to be the bigger person?

“I’m not saying you did. I’m saying you need to finish it. Remember why we’re here- we have way bigger games to worry about than your weird bestie skirmish- which we should really unpack later” Glimmer held her stare-- she’s not budging on this.

Internally groaning, Adora turns back to Catra and Bow, sporting a polite smile.

“Sorry,” Adora looks directly towards Catra, “looks like we’ll have to finish this another time. Maybe at practice?” Adora tried to sound aloof. Maybe it was too late for that.

Catra chuckles, “You never were subtle. I’m gonna have to pass on the practice part, but you know where to find me if you really wanna finish this” The implications of her tone weren’t lost on Adora. But finally, she’s hit with the all too familiar eyebrow cock. Two years later, and it still hadn’t changed. She knows it shouldn’t feel like a win, but it does. Catra waves her fingers and turns, walking away. Clearly, the conversation is over. 

  
  



	4. Catra is... Catra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I'd update on Saturday and it's still technically Saturday where I am so.... It counts. Also my state is on fire so leave me alone. Big titty thanks to my gf for reading and helping out with this story. Leave comments and kudos is you want to encourage me. I'll see y'all in a week :)

**Sept. 29**

Catra's POV

Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Adora knows she’s here. Adora knows Catra is at BMU, where she plays every night. Who knows, maybe she knows Catra’s address at this point? Why did she trust Bow and Sea Hawk? What did she even know about them? They’re two random dudes, one of which is obsessed with fire and the other only wears shirts that expose his midriff. It’s not like she can go around asking every person she meets if they know a blonde jacked girl named Adora!

Oh God, Adora.

There’s a plot twist she wasn’t expecting. Catra knew that transferring to BMU was a risk, but she always thought that if she saw Adora on campus she could always just flip her off and run away. She didn’t think she’d get ambushed while she was all sweaty and out of breath at the gym. Catra isn’t dumb. Before coming to BMU she weighed her options, but she assumed that Adora and her team would only practice together at their own gym, and for the last few months she had been right! And now everything is fucked.

Catra will have to stop coming to the gym. She’ll probably have to put on a beanie and sunglasses whenever she comes to campus. Maybe she can try and switch to online classes; is it too late in the semester for that? This is why she doesn’t do this, not anymore. Connections and friendships are just opportunities to get hurt. Now she’s gonna have to break off her new friendships with Bow and Sea Hawk. All because perfect Adora couldn’t just let her have her corner of the universe. She has to invade everything.

Catra sees Mermista and Sea Hawk talking to Lonnie, Scorpia, and Entrapta by the benches. They’re circled up right next to her gym bag. Perfect. Catra will have to walk right through them to get her stuff.

Catra walks up to the group in the middle of their conversation.

Mermista was doing her best impression of a saleswoman, “Yeah, so if you want to join, you can or whatever. We have a practice tomorrow if you want to stop by”

Scorpia looks excited. She always does, but especially at the offer to join a new team. A whole new group of people to befriend? It’s a dream for her, “Wow, that sounds so great!” Scorpia’s eyes are practically sparkling, “You know, I was thinking of trying out for the team when we transferred, but Catra thought it-- oh hey Wildcat!”

Catra grunts in response as she reaches for her bag. She quickly kicks her basketball shoes off and slips on her running shoes.

Scorpia doesn’t get the hint and continues talking, “We were talking about maybe going to the team’s practice tomorrow”

Catra scoffs and throws her bag over her shoulder, “Yeah, you all just hang there with your dicks in your hands and I’ll go fuck off right?”

Lonnie lowers her brows, “What’s up your ass?”

“Nothing, I’m getting out of here. I feel sick. Entrapta and Scorpia are gonna ride home with you whenever your girl scout meeting is over” Catra throws a dirty look to the group.

“I didn’t know it was my turn to take the kids”

“You can drive them or they can walk home. I couldn’t care less. Later losers” Catra walks out, luckily it seems like Adora and her buddies already left.

When Catra got to her car she saw Adora, Bow, and their sparkly friend sitting in their car. As Catra pulls out she drives past them and flips them off. She knows they can’t see it, but it feels good to do.

Catra gets back to her, Scorpia, and Entrapta’s apartment and immediately drops her duffle to the ground. She knows she can’t avoid them for long, but she wants a few minutes of solitude before she has to apologize for storming out on them. It hasn’t been long enough for Catra to feel bad about ditching them. She will later though, this isn’t the first time Catra’s freaked like this.

She hangs her keys on the hook and walks immediately into the bathroom and turns on the shower. She doesn’t want to be in her room when they get back. She needs time to process whatever just happened. She doesn’t know how long she showers for, but the only thing she’s thinking about is Adora.

Stupid perfect Adora has to show up and ruin the only friendships she’s made since she left. First, they’ll all be busy at practices and games, then they’ll disappear from Catra’s life in Adora’s cloud of fairy dust. Just like everyone else, they’ll find out Adora is amazing and Catra is… Catra. And on that lovely thought, Catra gets out of the shower. She gets changed and walks into the living room to see Scorpia, Lonnie, and Entrapta sitting waiting for her.

Catra focuses on Lonnie, “What are you doing here?”

Lonnie scoffs, “We’re here to snap you out of whatever happened back there”

“I don’t need to be snapped out of anything” Catra huffs, “If anyone needs to be snapped it’s you guys”

Scorpia tries to calm her down, “Woah, what are you talking about”

Catra’s voice steadily gets louder “Nothing, you guys are just gonna go join the princess squad and fuck off with your new shiny friends” Catra storms past them into the kitchen and fills a glass of water up to immediately chug it down.

Scorpia follows her, “What are you even talking about? We don’t want new shiny friends we want you”

“No, you don’t, soon you’ll realize I’m even more of a fuckup than you thought”

Scorpia steps closer to Catra, “Hey, we’re not leaving you. We’re the best pal trio!” Scorpia glances and sees Lonnie through the doorway, “plus Lonnie. So we’re not gonna leave you!”

“Everyone says that before they do”

“No, we’re not doing this again. Remember last year?” Catra looks up at Scorpia guiltily and nods, “You weren’t the best friend in the world then, but you realized how your actions can hurt other people. And when you started to trust us, things got better. So, please, when we’re telling the truth, will you believe us?”

“I can try. I’m not good at trusting people. But I can try,” Catra clears her throat before continuing, “So you guys wanna join the team, huh?”

Lonnie steps into the kitchen and leans against the doorway “Hey, we’re not doing this without you, okay? If you don’t want to play, we’re not playing” Catra looks up and meets Lonnie’s gaze, “And even if we did play, you’d still be our friend ”

Catra laughs, “We’re not even really friends. You’ve never even seen me outside of the gym”

Lonnie steps forward and lets her right arm fall on Catra’s shoulder, “First of all, me seeing you every day at the gym is still every day so don’t downplay my friendship. And second of all, it’s not like you do anything outside of play, sleep, and study so what would we do outside of play?”

Scorpia speaks up, “We’re gonna be your friends no matter what. Even you freaking out right not won’t push us away. ”

Entrapta yelled from the living room, “Especially because this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this” she pauses, “nor will it be the last, I’m assuming”

“Gee thanks, ‘trapta”

Lonnie throws Catra a small smile and lets her hand fall from Catra’s shoulder. She walks back into the living room and plops herself onto the couch. Scorpia and Catra follow. Catra takes a breath after sitting in her chair. Something about even Entrapta trying to make her feel better, makes her feel… better.

“Look, I’m sorry about blowing up on you guys. I’m trying to like, not do that anymore. I just feel like a shithead. Like, obviously this is a good opportunity but I don’t wanna deal with Adora or any of that shit”

Scorpia whispers, “What happened there?”

Catra lets out a short laugh and rises out of her seat, walking over the wall and leaning against it, “The short version? We were friends. We were gonna go to FZCC and play, then she got a better offer. I freaked and stopped talking to her. Now we’re here”

Lonnie sighs, “That’s rough buddy”

“Don’t fucking quote Avatar to me when I’m opening up” There’s no bite to her comment. If anything it came out with affection, “I mean, in retrospect, I shouldn’t have asked her to aim her sights lower for me. But, I mean” Catra dropped her head into her hands and pushed her hair back, “she lied to me, and let me think we were going to college together. I just couldn’t deal”

Lonnie catches Catra’s eyes while speaking earnestly, “Maybe you can deal now? If this is interesting to you, then we should at least try”

Catra crossed her arms and turned around, “Alright then, if we’re doing this, then we’re making a plan”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m not showing up to their practice on their home turf and get my ass handed to me,” she adds a smirk. It’s been a while since she got to play the mental part of the game. Half of the fun for Catra was scouting and finding an opponent’s weakness.

Catra looks towards Entrapta who is typing away on her computer, “Entrapta, can you pull up their last 5 games of the season?”

She doesn’t even look up, “I’m already doing that as well as grabbing their stats for the last two years” The more she types the bigger the smile on her face gets, “Ha! I love data!”

Catra turns to look at Scorpia and Lonnie who are chuckling at Entrapta. If they’re gonna show up to the BMU practice, there’s gonna be a lot of film to watch in the next 24 hours.


	5. Camp Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora meet 6 years ago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y’all wanted a backstory because here it is. I missed last week so I'm gonna post 2 chapters, one today and one Sun/Mon. I also put dates on the other chapters so you can keep track of what’s going on lol. Also, the name of the place they have their bball camp is Hardwood Palace because that’s the name of the place I went to basketball camp and it’s heavily inspired by it, so if you want to know exactly what the place looks like, just look up hardwood palace on google maps or something.

**6 years earlier - July 2014**

Adora POV

Adora was lucky; she knew it. Light Hope had been so amazing to her since adopting her. The proof was where she was sitting right now. She was in a car on her way to a basketball camp with new shoes and a lunch that Hope made for her. She even let Adora pack gushers. Adora didn’t know what she did to get so lucky, but she did know she’s going to make it worth it for Hope. 

“Adora, please calm down”

Adora was spinning her basketball on her right hand, “I can’t! How much longer?” she swiped at the ball again and it fell and hit the passenger side window, “If we don’t get there soon I’m gonna explode!”

Light Hope took her eyes off of the road and looked at Adora, “Absolutely not, there’ll be no exploding in this car”

“Ugh, you know I’m not being serious, it’s a joke”, Adora grumbled.

Adora waited for a moment before continuing spinning the ball on her fingertips. She almost had it. She wanted to impress the kids at the camp with her trick. She spun it again and it slipped off her finger and landed on the car radio before she could catch it.

“Adora! Do you want us to get in an accident?” Hope kept her eyes on the road and took a breath, “Just, please stop playing with the ball until we get there,” Adora stayed quiet, fidgeting with her ball until they arrived. 

As they pulled into the parking lot of what looks like a converted warehouse, Adora saw a large orange sign that said “Hardwood Palace”. Before getting out of the car, she threw her ball into her duffle bag and slipped her slides on. 

Adora entered the building behind Light Hope with her bag strapped over her shoulder. There must have been at least 10 basketball courts inside. Adora could make out the sounds of balls hitting the hardwood floors from different directions. 

Hope signed her in at a table and grabbed Adora a white and black double-sided penny with the number 14 on it. When she was sure that Adora would be fine, she left and more girls who looked anywhere from 14 to 18 were coming in and signing up. 

Their morning stretches and drills were done by a large woman named Octavia who yelled when any of the girls spoke to each other on the side. Adora didn’t want to get yelled at. She had everyone in lines by age and walked in between them during their dribbling drills. The only sounds in the gym were of a hundred basketballs hitting the floor and Octavia’s corrections for individual girls. She never corrected Adora. 

After their large group drills, more coaches came out and explained that they would be going into small groups of 10-15 by ages. Adora’s group, the 14-year-olds, was led by a short, gruff looking man with spiky hair and a small nose. None of the other coaches looked much nicer though. 

When they made their way to their court, Adora looked around and saw that there was a woman on the second floor looking over all the courts. She was thin with long dark hair. She had a clipboard in her hands and was surveying all of the courts like she was looking for someone. Eventually, she caught Adora staring. She narrowed her eyes and wrote something down. That didn’t look promising. Adora tried to forget about her as her coach began explaining what they’ll be doing until lunch. 

He looks at one of the girls in line, “Alright, Catra, why don’t you start us off with layups in lines,” He spoke to a short girl with wild brown hair. “Half of you get in a line behind her and the other half get to the other side and rebound” She grabbed her ball and got in line, when Adora got a closer look at her she realized she had two different colored eyes, blue and yellow. 

They did drills until lunch. 

\----------

Adora was sitting at a bench next to the courts. She was about to open her gushers when she saw the girls playing at one of the hoops. One of them was the girl with two-colored eyes, Catra. She was playing against two other girls, one with reddish hair and another girl with dark brown hair in a sleek ponytail. It wasn’t an even matchup.

It looked more like the Catra was terrorizing them than playing with them. She kept dribbling around them, showing off before scoring. And on defense she would swipe the ball away from them, laughing. 

Adora should leave them alone. She doesn’t want to start a fight on her first day here. She also can’t watch the two girls get their proverbial lunch money stolen by this girl. It’s one thing to be competitive, Adora knew about that. It’s another to be mean. 

Adora stood, “Hey!”

All three of their heads turned to look at Adora. The two girls looked relieved to have someone else taking up Catra’s attention. Catra looked annoyed and.. vaguely interested? Like she wanted to see who was bold enough to yell at her.

“Can I play?” Adora walked towards them.

Catra just stared, but the red-haired girl spoke up, “Yeah, we were gonna go eat anyways”, she grabbed the other girl’s hand and they left Catra and Adora alone.

“What’s your name?” It was the first time she’d heard Catra speak. She sounded kind of like she had a cold. 

“Adora”

Catra nodded,“Okay,” She dribbled the ball to the top of the key, “Best of 11?”

Adora smiled, “Sounds good!”

Catra was much better than she looked. She was incredibly quick and seemed to read Adora from the second they started playing. She would try different plans of attack and on defense, she would let Adora shoot from the outside to gauge her range. 

What it didn’t seem like she was banking on was Adora also being good. Adora was no slouch, she practiced every day and made sure to keep proper form on her shooting from any range. At this point she was practically ambidextrous when dribbling and she could shoot with her left hand from anywhere within the paint. 

With the score tied 10-10, Adora had the ball. They hadn’t specified whether their game was win by 2 so whoever scored next would win. Adora pushed off of Catra, stepped back, and shot the ball. She watched it fall through the net and hit the ground. She laughed, “I guess I won!”

“I guess you did” Catra dropped her arms and went to grab her ball. She was going to leave. Adora didn’t want that, not at all. This was the most fun she’d had playing since… ever. 

“No!” Catra turned around and gave her a confused look, “Um, we could go again? Make it more interesting?”

“Interesting how?” Catra replied.

If Adora could come up with something interesting enough, maybe she’d stay.

“How about we have to score on the left side?” Catra perked up at the idea.

“Okay princess,” She tossed Adora the ball

Once again it seemed like they were going shot for shot with each other. Neither one of them could get the upper hand. Adora was starting to think the only reason she won the first one was because she started out with the ball.

The score 10-9 with Catra ahead. Adora was dribbling with her left hand on the left block, pushing against Catra with her right forearm. She faked to her left and Catra fell for it, she then pivoted to her right and banked it in.

Catra walked to the top of the key and let Adora get her the ball to check it up. 10-10.

Adora tossed it to her, “You're good” 

Catra threw it back, “Thanks, you too”

Adora dropped the ball and let it roll to Catra, getting closer to guard her and push her to her right. She saw Catra smirk at that before questioning her, “You from around here?”

“I live over by the Crystal Castle, sort of near the woods” Adora responded, trying to keep her attention on Catra. She angled her body to try and force Catra away from the left side of the basket. Catra let her. 

Catra drove to the basket on the right side, hesitated just enough for Adora to slow down, then accelerated under the hoop for a reverse layup. Technically, since she went under the basket and laid it up on the left, it counted. She won.

“Oh cool, I live by FZCC so that’s not too far”

“Yeah” Adora put her arms above her head and walked under the basket to lean against the wall.

Catra grabbed the ball and looked like she had something on her mind before she spoke again, “If you want, we could practice together”

“Really?” Adora felt her eyes widen. She had never had friends outside of school. That being said she didn’t have many friends from school either.

“I mean, if you want” Catra pulled her phone out of her pocket and offered it to Adora, “You can put your number in and we can get together and practice”

Adora felt her smile meet her eyes. She didn’t try and hide it, she could never keep a straight face anyway. She dropped her arms and took the phone.

They shot around for another few minutes before going back to where Adora was sitting. They still had 3 more hours of camp after this and Adora wanted to have enough energy to finish strong. She was able to bribe Catra to sit with her with some of her gushers.

After lunch, they went back to their groups to do more drills and scrimmage. Then all the girls got together in the same large group as the morning to do more drills and cool down. 

What was different was that the dark-haired woman from before was walking along the side of the court. She was taller than Adora had thought. They were supposed to be let out at 4:00, and it was 3:45. She whispered something to Octavia who nodded so much it looked like she was practically bowing. 

Octavia’s voice boomed in the silence, “Alright everyone, sit down. We’re gonna talk for a few, then you’ll get ready to get out of here” Octavia walked backwards and the other woman came to the front.

“Hello all, I am Coach Weaver and I run this camp” Her voice was jarring initially. It was deep and cold.

She walked along the front of the group with her hands clasped behind her back. Her green eyes were flitting over the girls in the group, making eye contact with everyone and no one, “I was a former collegiate player and coach, but in my older age I’ve diverted my attention to molding the skill sets of younger players” 

“Some of you may never achieve more success than you have right now,” It looked like her eyes flitted towards where Catra was sitting, “but some of you may have what it takes to play at higher levels” Her head tilted and she held her gaze on a few girls before looking at Adora. 

“Your ultimate success may depend on your dedication here, so _don’t_ waste it,” With that, she left. Adora’s eyes never left her figure until she turned the corner. 

Adora knew she was a bit of a teacher’s pet. It was one of the reasons it was so hard for her to make friends in school. Combining that with intense competitiveness created a monster that Adora didn’t quite know how to defeat. Adora didn’t know if she wanted to defeat it. 

Everyone was dismissed after Coach Weaver was done. Adora watched Catra walk to her backpack and take her shoes off. She pulled her phone out and didn’t look back up. Adora grabbed her bag and sat down next to Catra to change out of her shoes and slip on her slides. 

“Woah, anyone ever teach you about personal space?” Catra said before looking up at who invaded her space, “Oh, it’s you”

“Sorry, I just wanted to say bye before I leave with my mom” Adora slid away from Catra slightly. She pulled her basketball shoes off and threw her slides on.

Catra turned her phone off and faced Adora, essentially removing all the personal space Adora had just given her, “Is she already here?”

“She’s really big on being on time”

Catra smiled, “Hmm, seems like that might be contagious”

“At least I don’t have the tardy gene” Adora teased.

“You sure? How do you know your mom isn’t out there waiting for you right now?”

Adora’s eyes widened. She did not want to keep Hope waiting, “Oh, you’re right! I gotta go,” she jumped up and gave a quick hug to Catra before running out as well as someone in slides can. 

\-------------

Adora got home after the long drive and immediately showered and ate dinner. When she went back up to her room she jumped onto her bed and checked her phone. She had a new text from 3 minutes ago.

**(xxx) xxx-xxx:** I’m gonna destroy you tomorrow

Adora smiled at the text. After one day she felt like she could pick out Catra’s language out anywhere. She added the contact before responding. 

**Adora:** I’m gonna assume this is Catra

She got a response immediately. 

**Catra:** Would it scare you if it wasn’t?

Adora let out a small laugh.

**Adora:** No, I can block numbers this isn’t Scream

**Catra:** Doesn’t matter. I’m still gonna destroy you tomorrow

**Adora:** Hmmm, I’d like to see you try

**Catra:** I know you would

Wanna make a bet?

**Adora:** I’m listening

**Catra:** When I win I want your lunch

Specifically your gushers

**Adora:** You monster

**Catra:** I should’ve warned you about that

**Adora:** Fine, when I win you have to apologize to the girls from lunch

**Catra:** Seriously?

Is my lunch that gross to you?

**Adora:** Lunch doesn’t fill me as much as justice

**Catra:** Ugh

Of course you say that

**Adora:** My win my prize

**Catra:** Fine if you win I’ll apologize

**Adora:** Well that was easy

Careful

It kinda sounds like you like me

**Catra:** Everyone who’s ever met you likes you

Adora didn’t know what response she was looking for. Before she could think of what to say back she got another text.

**Catra:** Except me

I’m immune to your charm

Adora swallowed thickly at the last text. Her hands and her toes started to tingle like she was looking over the edge of a tall building. She was really looking forward to tomorrow. 


	6. Camp Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora and Catra finish bball camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my apology chapter. Next week will be one more flashback that shows you Catra and Adora during their late teen years. That's right, next week we YEARN. Comments and Kudos are always appreciated :)

**6 years earlier - July 2014**

Adora POV

Tuesday started the same as the day before. Octavia ran group stretches and drills, but instead of walking in between the girls, she stayed at the front. Adora was a little behind Catra to her right. Catra would periodically turn to throw a silly face Adora’s way. 

Coach Weaver came onto the court from the side and walked in between the girls. She made her way over to where Catra was in the front of the line of 14-year-olds. Catra’s head was down so she didn’t see her coming. Coach Weaver extended her arm and grabbed Catra’s chin, tugging her head up, “Catra, how many times do I have to tell you,” her hand dropped from Catra’s chin, “Keep your eyes up when you’re dribbling”

Coach Weaver walked towards the front and spoke to the whole group, “Let Catra be an example to you all,” most of the girls stopped their dribbling and looked between Weaver and Catra, “practice means nothing if you are not practicing _right._ Continue”

All the girls continued the drill. Catra stared at Weaver’s back before going back to dribbling. Adora was close enough to see the tears forming in her eyes. Catra wiped her face with the back of her hand and kept dribbling, not dropping her head for the rest of the drill.

Adora had been looking forward to lunch. She knew who won wasn’t that important, but it was fun to pretend like it was. And Adora was glad she had someone to eat lunch with today. Catra seemed less excited. She was quiet during their small group drills and seemed to forget all about their bet.

“Alright, I’m ready to get destroyed” Adora walked up behind Catra who was shooting with her left hand underneath the basket. 

“Huh?” Catra didn’t turn around.

“Um, our bet?” Adora pushed, “You win, you get gushers. I win, I get justice,” Adora tried not to sound as needy as she felt, “remember?” 

“Oh, I didn’t know if you still wanted to do that” she sounded shy more than uninterested. She stopped shooting and turned to Adora, “You don’t have to”

Adora smiled and grabbed the ball from Catra’s hands, “I want to!”

Catra visibly perked up, “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t give you a way out from a miserable defeat”

“How about you put your money where your mouth is,” Adora walked to the top of the key, “No more lucky shots like last time, win by 2”

Catra leaned her head back and groaned, “Ugh, but then there’s no drama!” 

Adora laughed, “There’ll be plenty of drama with just you here” 

Adora squared up to the basket and Catra. She drove to the basket and it was underway.

There was a different air about their game today. Catra was smiling and giving her much more room to work. Yesterday, Catra was a suffocating and quick defender, like a gnat. During their drills, she gave no one room to breathe; she was constantly trying to steal the ball. And now, she was almost letting Adora score. 

She wasn’t _letting_ her score. Adora still had to work to get near the basket, but the intensity wasn’t dialed up to 11. It was just… fun. Adora turned over the ball for trying a fadeaway that she had no chance of making. Catra closed her eyes and shot from the 3pt line. It was all fun and games until Coach Weaver came. 

“Catra”, the voice pulled the girls out of their bubble. Coach Weaver was walking onto the court near the two girls, “If you practice those shots, then that’s what you’ll be doing in games” she towered over Catra, “do you want to be known as the girl who closes her eyes and wishes for the ball to go in?”

Catra didn’t meet Coach Weaver’s stare. She looked to her side, past her, “I was just playing around” she grumbled.

“Hmm, I wouldn’t be surprised if I hear that same excuse from you years down the line,” Coach Weaver turned her attention away from Catra.

She leaned down to Adora’s level, “Adora, I’ve seen you practice, you’re a good girl. Dedicated. Hard-working” Adora wished her words didn’t fill her up so much. But she couldn’t help the warm feeling that spread through her chest, “Don’t let Catra’s flippant attitude rub off on you,” at those words, the feeling died. She didn’t feel happy, she felt ashamed. Ashamed she couldn’t tell Coach Weaver that she was wrong about Catra. Ashamed she wanted Coach Weaver to be right about her. 

Adora looked to Catra, who briefly met her gaze before looking past Coach Weaver again. Adora dug deep to find her words, “Thank you, but it wasn’t just Catra. We were both just having fun”

Coach Weaver narrowed her eyebrows and leaned back up, towering over Adora now, “I see, well, don’t let me stop your fun then,” she walked away from them.

Adora could feel Catra’s tension leave once Coach Weaver was out of view. 

Adora turned to Catra and let out a breath she forgot she was holding, “Oh my stars, she’s terrifying”

“If you thought that was scary, you should see her when she’s mad” Catra grumbled.

“I don’t think I ever want to see that”

“You probably won’t” Catra crossed her arms, “She thinks you’re _special_ ”, she said the last word with a mocking tone.

“Whatever, I don’t care what she thinks about me” Adora was lying, but she really wanted this to be over. Catra’s arms were still crossed, but at least she was looking at Adora again.

“Come on, I’m pretty sure you won so, let’s get you your gushers” They both knew neither of them had won; they’d stopped keeping count of the score. 

Catra eyed her suspiciously before conceding, “Alright, let’s eat,” Catra looked much happier once she was eating her gushers.

\------------

They ended the day with stretches, but Coach Weaver didn’t come back out and give a speech. She watched from the balcony on the second floor. When Octavia let them all go Adora sat down where her and Catra’s bags were. She slipped her shoes off and slid her slides on before realizing Catra hadn’t sat down yet. 

Adora looked up, trying to find her before she had to leave. When Adora saw her, she was talking to the two girls she was playing with yesterday. Adora couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying, but she could generally read the situation. Catra’s eyes were down and she was talking slowly while wringing her hands together. The girls were just listening to Catra, before they said something that looked like, “It’s okay” before Catra nodded profusely and turned around.

Catra looked surprised to see Adora watching her walk back. Adora smiled and Catra blushed as she sat down. She took her shoes off in silence, but Adora could see a small smile on the edge of her lips. 

Adora knew Catra had apologized; she didn’t need to ask about it. 

\-----------

On Wednesday, Coach Weaver was watching the 14’s run drills before lunch. She had her arms crossed and came down to speak to their coach when he dismissed them for lunch. 

When Catra and Adora sat at the benches and ate, Adora finally asked the question that had been on her mind since the second day. 

“How does she know you?”

“What?”

“How did Coach Weaver already know you on, like, the first day?”

Catra had a mouth full of sandwich but was able to get a few words out, “I was here last year”

Adora’s brows furrowed, “What? How? You would’ve been too young” she couldn’t keep the envy out of her voice.

Catra swallowed and let out a dark scoff, “Don’t be jealous. My dad asked if she would make an exception because he wanted me busy all week”

“But you got extra practice all week!” Adora bumped her shoulder against Catra’s and smiled at her, “That’s probably why you're so good”

Catra met her eyes and her frown turned to a small smile, “Ha, yeah, that or my natural talent” She lifted her chin and looked away from Adora before laughing. 

Adora took that moment to really look at the other girl. They were usually playing when they were together so she hadn’t properly looked at Catra since she first saw her. She really was pretty and her laugh was nice. Adora couldn’t imagine someone not wanting Catra around. 

“I’m sorry you had to be here if you didn’t want to”

“It’s okay. Weaver told me that if I’m good enough, she’d talk to colleges about me” Catra couldn’t meet Adora’s eyes like she was ashamed to even think about it let alone say it out loud. 

“Maybe she can talk to colleges about us both,” Adora said hopefully.

“Hah, yeah right. Don’t expect Weaver to keep her promises”

\-----------

On Thursday, Adora found out she and Catra were going to the same high school after summer. 

“How did I not know this earlier?”

Catra was helping herself to some of Adora’s trail mix when she responded, “Because it’s summer” she threw a chocolate chip into the air and caught it in her mouth, “I don’t wanna think about school”

Adora raised one of her brows, “So you’re probably not doing any of the summer reading, are you?”

Catra smiled, “Guilty”

Adora grabbed some of the trail mix and threw it at the other girl, “Catra!”

Catra dodged Adora’s assault, “What? I’ll just SparkNotes them” Catra reached to grab the bag of apple slices.

Adora tilted her head at Catra, “That’s not the point and you know it” Catra smiled back and crunched on an apple slice.

\---------

After lunch, Adora and Catra went back to their small group. When they arrived, they lined up on the baseline, waiting for their coach to get back.

He eventually came onto the court and turned to look at the girls.

“Adora,” he barked

Adora jumped a bit when he yelled, “Um, yes?”

“You’ve been playing well and Coach Weaver has noticed. Starting now, you’ll be playing with the 15s on the next court over” he looked to his left at the court next to them where a group of about 25 girls was playing, “Congrats”

Adora turned to look at Catra next to her. Catra looked the way Adora felt, absolutely shocked. Her eyes were wide and her mouth slightly parted. 

Adora looked back at the coach. He motioned over to the other court and Adora felt her feet taking her over there. She looked back nervously and saw the other girls staring at her. Except for Catra. Catra was looking straight ahead, actively looking away from Adora. 

The 15-year-olds were nice enough. They didn’t freeze her out or try to push her around. Adora was having a hard enough time trying to keep up with them anyway, but by the end of the day, Adora could tell this was better for her than being in the other group. 

Her only competition before was Catra. She was great to play against, but other than her, it was a cakewalk. Her new group pushed her harder and asked more from her. The only question she had was why didn’t Coach Weaver send Catra up, too?

After the group work was done, they got back into the large group and did cool down stretches with Octavia. This time, Adora was in line with the 15s, so she couldn’t see Catra. 

When Octavia let them go at 4:00, Adora didn’t see Catra. She and her bag were gone. 

Adora hadn’t talked to her since she switched groups. She waited to see if Catra would show up but eventually, she got a call from her mom and had to leave. She opened up her phone to text Catra before she left.

  
  


**Adora:** Hey I don’t see you but I gotta go bc my mom’s here

I’ll see you tomorrow

Bye!

Catra didn’t respond.

\-------

Friday was the last day of camp. Adora hadn’t heard back from Catra yet. Maybe she got her phone taken away? Or it died?

When Adora arrived that morning she saw Catra’s backpack in the same spot it usually was, but Catra was nowhere to be seen. Adora made sure she wasn’t practicing on one of the courts before going to the bathrooms to check if she was there. 

Adora walked into the women’s bathroom and saw Catra’s shoes in the only occupied stall. She didn’t look happy to see Adora when she came out. She went right to the sink, avoiding eye contact, and not acknowledging her presence at all. 

Adora broke the silence, “Hey! Sorry I didn’t say bye yesterday, I tried to find you, but I had to go”

Catra pumped the soap onto her hand and lathered aggressively, “It’s whatever, I was just doing ball handling drills”

Adora laughed, “You were practicing basketball after 8 hours of practicing basketball?”

Catra turned sharply to look at Adora, “Not everyone has stuff handed to them” she moved to get a paper towel, “Some of us have to work if we wanna get moved into higher groups”

Adora stepped closer to Catra, ignoring how her words hurt, “Is that what this is about? I didn’t ask Weaver to move me up”

“Just admit it!” Catra yelled with her arms straight at her side, “You love being her favorite”

“That’s not true!” Adora yelled louder.

“Don’t pretend you’re not happy about moving groups, I could tell. You think you’re better than me” Catra balled up her paper towels and threw them on the ground. 

“Stop! That’s not true, none of that is true” Adora tried to use her body to keep Catra in the bathroom, but she shoved Adora’s shoulder and left. When they got out, Octavia had already started group warmups, and the two girls were late. 

Adora went to her group and spent the moments on the sideline watching Catra. Without Adora there, she was dominating. She was easily scoring on offense and making amazing defensive plays. She was single-handedly controlling the tempo of the scrimmages. It was obvious she didn’t belong there.

Catra was right. 

\--------

Adora’s group was let out for lunch after Catra’s. Adora grabbed her lunch and immediately went looking for Catra again. She found her sitting on the ground on one of the courts in the back. She was on her phone and had an earbud in one ear.

Adora walked over to her, “Hey”

Adora saw Catra’s eyes flicker up as she let out a grunt.

She wasn’t going to make this easy for Adora. Even though Adora being moved wasn’t her fault, she could see how upset it made Catra.

Adora sat down next to her, “Are you not gonna eat lunch?”

Catra angled her body away from Adora, “What are you doing?”

Adora tilted her head, “What do you mean? I wanted to hang out with you”

Catra gave her a confused look, “Are you being serious?”

“Obviously,” Adora smiled, “You’re my friend”

Catra pulled her earbud out of her ear, “Oh” she turned her phone over in her hand, “Um, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. It’s not your fault that Weaver’s a bitch”

Adora felt her eyes go wide before she started giggling, “Um, I agree, but we should probably not say that where she could get us in trouble”

Catra stuck her chin out, “I’m not afraid of her”

“Hah, maybe not, but I am”

Catra’s eyes found Adora’s lunchbox, “So, what’d you bring me today, princess?” 

Adora eyed Catra as she scooted closer to open the lunchbox, “How am I the princess if I’m the one bringing you a snack every day?”

Catra pulled out Adora’s apple slices, “The name isn’t up for debate, sorry”

“Alright, then I guess it’s only fair that I come up with a name for you”

Catra chuckled, “You get to call me your friend, isn’t that name good enough?” She opened the bag of apple slices and helped herself.

Her "friend”. Adora had tried so many times to make friends, real friends, and here she was sharing her lunch with a girl she met 5 days ago. Friend was good enough for her. 

\--------------

Adora finished the day in the 15s group but stood next to Catra to do their cool down stretches at the end of the day. 

Coach Weaver came out to give a speech thanking everyone for being here while simultaneously threatening them to get them to come back next year. Octavia dismissed them for the last time and Adora and Catra went to sit at the bench where their bags were.

Catra groaned, “Ugh I’m glad this is over” Adora gave her a confused look, “don’t get me wrong I love playing, I just don’t know how much longer I could look at Octavia’s dumb face”

Adora smiled, “Seriously?”

“What? She’s got a dumb face” Catra insisted.

They both changed out of their shoes and stood up with their bags over their shoulders. 

“Quick goodbye before you’ve gotta run out?” Catra opened her arms and offered a hug to Adora. Adora closed the space between them and squeezed her friend. 

Adora spoke softly as they embraced, “Normally yes, but I asked Hope to come at 4:05 today so I wouldn’t have to run out”

Catra gasped and pushed her away, “So you scammed me for an extra hug?”

Adora shrugged, “Is it scamming if you offered?”

Catra grinned, “I think you’ve gotten more devious since meeting me” Catra bumped her shoulder against Adora’s, “C’mon dork, let's go wait for her out front”

Catra walked with Adora outside. Within a minute, a dark gray car pulled up to the front right in front of the girls. The passenger window rolled down and a bald woman was inside. 

She saw Catra and looked back to Adora, “Adora, is this your friend?”

Catra looked at Adora with a raised brow. The situation caused the blonde to blush, “Yes, thanks Hope”

Catra smiled and turned to Light Hope, “Hi, I’m Catra” She waved her right hand towards the car then stuck both her thumbs underneath the straps of her backpack.

Hope nodded, “Hello, I’m Light Hope, but you may call me Hope” She turned to Adora, “Adora, we have dinner waiting so we should get going”

Adora opened the passenger door and threw her duffle bag in, “Okay!” She said frustratedly, “Gimme a sec” 

She turned back to Catra and took a breath, “So, I guess I’ll see you around”

Catra dropped her hands, “Yeah, I’ll see you”

Adora still had a light blush on her cheeks when she went in to hug her. Catra hugged her back. When they let go, Adora got in the car and waved to Catra before rolling the window back up.

Adora drove back in silence with Hope. She didn’t know when it was okay to text Catra to hang out? Did Catra even still want to hang out? Maybe it would be better to start with something casual, not a hangout question. If Catra didn’t respond, then Adora would know that she didn’t want to hang out outside of camp, which is totally (not) fine.

**Adora:** You’re trying out for the team when school starts right?

Catra responded immediately. 

**Catra:** Duh!

 **Adora:** Okay me too

Wanna practice together?

 **Catra:** Didn’t we just spend the last week doing that?

 **Adora:** I guess lol

 **Catra:** I’m free tomorrow

Can you pick me up?

They hung out the next day.


	7. Teenage Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora yearn during their teen years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR 100 KUDOS!!!! Here’s the last flashback of the story, so next week we go back to see what the fuck is going on with all those college queers. This chapter contains…. Almost no actual basketball playing. Lmk if y’all like the basketball scenes or if it’s just sports going in one ear out the other lol. And just bc I know how to play basketball doesn’t mean I know jackshit about the college recruitment process so…. Don’t judge me. Also, Catra’s car is the first car my older sister bought and I don’t recommend getting it. Comments and kudos are always appreciated :)

**6 Years Ago - Fall 2014**

Freshman year was somehow easier than expected. Maybe going into the school year with an actual friend made a difference? Conditioning for the basketball team started the second week of school. It was after school every day and was the perfect excuse for Catra to hang out with Adora. And if Adora and her mom happened to drive Catra home every night? Well, that’s just what good friends do. 

Being the only two freshmen on the varsity team only helped their bonding. By the time their first high school basketball season ended, Adora and Catra were seen together more often than not. And when they were around other people it always seemed like they could never keep up. Adora and Catra seemed to be in on a joke that no one else got. Eventually, everyone got tired of being the third wheel around them. They didn’t even notice.

**5 Years Ago - July 2015**

Catra told Adora she was a lesbian at camp when they were 15. 

Adora asked what she did last weekend. It was uncommon for them to spend a Saturday night apart, but Catra said she was busy. 

Catra felt herself freeze for a second before taking a breath and responding, “Oh, um, I went to the state fair” She stared at the ball in her hands for a moment before looking back at Adora, “Like, with someone”

“Oh!” Adora’s eyes were huge, she looked down for a moment before coming back up and dropping her ball from her lap to her feet, “Who? Do you have a photo? How was it?”

Adora seemed excited; Catra didn’t feel excited. She knew she would have to tell Adora eventually, she was just putting it off until the right moment. Looks like that moment is now. She felt like she might cry. 

“Um, it was fine,” Catra dropped her gaze back to her ball. This is the moment, “ _She_ was fine”

Adora didn’t speak until Catra mustered the courage to look at her.

Adora looked back at her with a small smile and soft eyes, “Oh, Catra, that’s-- well-- that’s great!” She put her hand on Catra’s shoulder, “Um, I don’t think I told you, but, Hope’s gay, so, I’m totally cool with it if that’s what you were worried about” Adora lets her hand rub gently on Catra’s shoulder. 

“Wait, what? She’s gay?” Catra questioned.

Adora beamed at her and nodded in response.

“Well, I guess that explains all those power suits” Catra jokes.

“So does that mean you’ll tell me about your date?” Adora asked. Catra could tell Adora was trying to sound less excited than she really was. 

Catra shrugged, “Not much to tell my friend. We didn’t really hit it off”

Adora pouted and stayed quiet. Catra knew that Adora was giving her space to keep talking if she wanted to. Catra wished she hated that Adora could read her, “Honestly, it was just nice to be there, like, out. And even if it looked like two friends at the fair to everyone else, it was nice for me to know it was a date”

“I’m really happy for you” Adora dropped her hand onto Catra’s, “Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me” she brushed her thumb over Catra’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

Catra felt her face get warm. Adora’s hand felt nice. Warm. Way nicer than that other girl’s hand. Oh no. Catra really hoped this didn’t mean what she thought it did.

**5 Years Ago - November 2015**

When Catra got her car, it was the same as before, except there were no parents around. Her dad bought her a 1999 green Saturn for under $2,000 right when she turned 16. Most children would have been ecstatic, and Catra was in a lot of ways, but the car was also a reminder that her dad would do anything he could to minimize their time together. This was just as much a gift for him as it was for Catra. 

But at least it meant she and Adora could go places without asking for a ride. They could listen to whatever music they wanted and grab whatever food they craved. They would park in random lots and lean their chairs back and talk. Sit on the hood and look at the stars. 

**4 ½ Years Ago - February 2016**

Adora came out to Catra when they were both 16. 

She did it in the passenger seat of Catra’s car. They were eating their Burger King soft serve vanilla ice cream cones in the parking lot. Nothing but a few street lights were casting light on the dashboard. Catra’s radio was playing the local indie station at a low volume while they ate. The next thing Adora knew, she was blurting it out. 

“So I’m gay”

Adora was staring at the passenger seat glovebox, overly aware of the body to her left. 

“Just thought you should know”

Catra stared at her ice cream for a moment before responding, “If you wanted to copy me so badly, you could’ve dyed your hair brown”

“Really? That’s all you’re gonna say?” Adora had spent hours before this trying to get the courage to tell her friend.

“I’m also proud of you”, Catra said fondly.

“Oh,” Adora didn’t like what her heart did at those words, “well that’s surprisingly nice of you to say”

“Yeah well, I live to surprise. How long have you known?”

“Oh, um, I don’t know”, Adora knew she would start nervously rambling eventually, she just thought she’d last longer, “I just started thinking about stuff, like romance, and all I could think about was girls”

“Yeah? And that didn’t tip you off before?”

That only flustered Adora more, “I just never thought about that stuff before!”

Catra smirked like she was in on a joke that Adora didn’t catch, “So do you think about that stuff now?”

“Um”, Adora’s face reddened a bit, “yeah”

Catra laughed, “Wow okay so it’s gonna be like pulling teeth with you about this stuff?”

“No!” Adora pushed her loose hairs out of her face, “I just, I don’t even know how to talk about it in my head so how am I supposed to do it out loud?”

Catra turned in her seat so she was fully facing Adora, “Okay, well you never have to tell me anything, but you can. Just saying”

“Okay thanks”

“So”

Adora turned her attention back to her ice cream, “So…” 

“I guess this means I shouldn’t set you up with Sean for prom”

“Oh fuck no!”

Catra raised her brow, “So, why don’t we go together then?”

Adora turned so now she was also facing Catra fully, “I’m sorry, are you prom-posing during my coming out?”

Catra shrugged, “I mean yeah? Something good should come of this”

Adora tilted her head at Catra, “Oh, so living my truth isn’t good enough for you”

Catra smiled widely and leaned across the center console to poke Adora in between her eyes, “Your truth won’t get you a corsage for the dance dummy”

Adora froze and gazed at Catra’s smile. The one that Adora only saw if she got Catra comfortable enough to forget that she was giving Adora the best gift she could ever ask for. 

Then Adora realized both she and Catra had leaned into each other’s space. The air in the car changed and everything went soft and quiet. Her fingertips started to tingle and her chest felt like she was vibrating on the inside. 

Catra cleared her throat and dropped her finger from Adora’s forehead, “I mean, unless you're a boutonniere gal now”

Adora tried to regulate her breath under Catra’s stare, “No” she managed to keep her blush confined to her cheeks, “No I’m a corsage girl”

Catra nods, “Cool”

“So”

“...So”

Adora swallowed and tried to keep her eyes on Catra, “Are you a corsage or boutonniere girl?”

Catra licked her lips and almost whispered, “I’m a boutonniere girl” 

Adora would have to try to get that image out of her head, “Good to know”

Their ice cream was melted.

**3 Years Ago - August 2017**

Senior Year was important for so many reasons. Each year Fright Zone High had gotten closer and closer to the state finals. Last year they had been knocked out in the second round of the playoffs. It was the first time their school had gotten past the first round of the playoffs in over 20 years. This year, Adora had a mission. She wanted a banner. She wanted evidence that she was here, that she accomplished something. She wanted her and Catra’s name down in the books. 

During their senior year, they had the best team they could have hoped for surrounding Adora and Catra. They felt primed for a legit playoff run. 

They had no idea they’d make it to the regional finals. 

**2 ½ Years Ago - March 2018 - Regional Finals**

Adora watched Catra cross half court and call a timeout with about 12 seconds left. The score was tied and Fright Zone had the ball. When they circled up, their coach looked almost as sweaty as they did. She drew up a play for Adora. She would come off a screen with about 4 seconds left and take the shot over a smaller guard, hopefully. 

The only issue was that’s exactly what the other team would expect. 

When their coach looked back up from the clipboard, she was looking at Catra. 

She yelled above the sound of the crowd, “There’s a chance they’ll double her”, Catra wiped at her upper lip and nodded in response. Even now, she looked cool and collected. It was one of Adora’s favorite things about Catra. She never broke under pressure. Looking at her, all you could see was determination, no fear.

The coach continued, “If they do” she looked to Adora now, “pass to her” 

Adora nodded and looked back at Catra. Catra grabbed Adora’s hand, “I’ll be ready” 

They got back on the court and Adora watched Catra tighten her ponytail before all hell broke loose.

The referee handed their center the ball near half-court. Catra ran above the 3pt like and caught the ball. She dribbled towards her left and passed the ball to their power forward. 10 seconds left. 

Their power forward squared up to the basket, getting smothered by her defender. Adora ran to her from the baseline. She handed the ball off to Adora and rolled to the basket. 8 seconds. 

Adora dribbled, eating up time. She saw Catra’s defender sagging off of her, watching Adora instead. 6 seconds.

She drove to her left like she was going to the basket and saw Catra’s defender abandon her to double team Adora. 4 seconds.

Adora pulled up like she was going to shoot and turned to her right in midair to pass to Catra. Catra was already one step into her shot when she caught the ball at the free throw line. 2 seconds.

It went in. Of course, it went in. It was Catra.

Everything was a blur.

The next thing Adora knew was that she was screaming. She didn’t need the banner in her hands to celebrate. She was smiling so hard she couldn’t feel her cheeks. She turned and saw Catra talking to the Coach before catching her eyes. 

Catra’s eyes burned with fire. She held the contact as she sprinted over to Adora and tackled her. They both fell to the ground, with Catra still attached to Adora’s side. Everyone seemed too involved with their own celebrations to notice them. Catra grabbed Adora’s face by the side and planted a hard kiss on her cheek. The pressure from Catra’s hands and her lips was all too much.

Adora’s entire body burned. The sensation began at her cheek and, like a paper being lit from the middle, burned out to her edges. She could feel it in her fingertips. 

Catra momentarily released her and whispered in her ear, “Thank you for trusting me” Adora could feel tears on her face. She had no idea whether they belonged to her or Catra.

Catra gave Adora another quick kiss on the cheek before hugging her and crushing her head in her arms. Adora had no idea how long they stayed there, but eventually, they got up. There were celebrations to be had, and another game to get played, eventually. 

They lost in the state finals to a school out in the Crimson Waste. It made sense, everyone on the team was at least 5’10 and could easily bench press both Catra and Adora. The loss sucked, but taking their school to their first ever state championship left them both feeling proud at the end.

Finishing her final high school basketball season suddenly gave Catra a lot of free time. She was still playing and practicing with Adora every day, but it wasn’t the same. There was no ultimate goal, no coach screaming at them to keep their pace up when running. They were playing because they liked it, just like how they did when they were 14.

All that free time with Adora made Catra’s head spin. She remembered seeing her after they won the semi-finals. Adora was holding the banner above her head. She had the only thing that mattered in that moment, but she was still looking for Catra. Seeing that opened up a box in Catra’s chest that she had kept shut for years.

Maybe she could be enough for Adora. Maybe Adora wanted her the way she wanted Adora. The way Adora looked at her made her feel like she was 15 again. 

So when Catra was suddenly handed an obscene amount of free time, she spent most of it thinking about her best friend. Her best friend who sat insanely close to her during movies. Her best friend who had no problem using her hips to push against Catra when defending her.

With the season over, the next goal was graduating. They had both turned 18, and were now looking at places near FZCC to live in next semester. They were having a hard time finding a two-bedroom that was within their price range. But Catra didn’t think she would survive sharing a room with Adora. Not because she was a perv, but because she didn’t think her dumb lesbian heart could handle it. 

Eventually, the pining and longing became too much. Catra couldn't tell you what changed until everything did. One day, Catra woke up and decided this would be it. This was the day she told Adora. 

They had plans to go play at the park that day. It wasn’t the most romantic place in the world, but it was them and it was the best Catra could do with 4 hours of notice. 

She picked Adora up like always, but she was actually on time today. She pulled in front of Adora’s house and received a text within 30 seconds.

**Adora:** You’re early

Are you okay?

**Catra:** I’m not early

I’m on time

**Adora:** That’s early for you

I’ll be out in a sec

I wasn’t expecting punctual Catra

**Catra:** Maybe I’m finally outgrowing that tardy gene

Adora came out in a tight heather grey shirt and black shorts. Catra had become a lot more observant of Adora’s clothing choices since realizing she still had feelings for her best friend. Adora opened the backseat of Catra’s car and threw her duffle bag in. She still used the same one that she had when she met Catra. 

When she sat in the passenger seat, she had a huge smile on her face, “I can’t believe you remember the tardy gene joke!”

Catra tried not to blush. Her beautiful best friend was beaming at her and pointing out that Catra basically remembered everything Adora had ever said to her, “I can. It was your best joke” Catra pulled out of the driveway and drove to the park.

Deciding that today would be the day felt like she was being sentenced to be the most awkward person on the face of the planet. She let Adora decide on the radio station. Catra kept overthinking every song that she landed on. 

When they got out of the car, Catra felt out of place in her body. She felt like she suddenly forgot how to walk. What did people usually do with their hands when they walk? Sway? Catra moved her hands in rhythm with her steps. Now she felt like a robot. She heard a muffled sound come from Adora and turned to see Adora stifling a laugh with her hand. 

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Adora asked, “You look like you forgot how to walk”

Catra pushed on Adora’s left shoulder and sent her veering off course, “I’m fine!” The shove only served to make Adora laugh louder.

Great, Catra was turning into the “boys who are mean to you actually like you cliche”. She wasn’t just mean to Adora. If anything, Adora was usually the exception to most of her meanness. 

Catra didn’t have a plan. How do you plan to tell someone you’ve had feelings for them since before you even knew what those feelings were? She assumed there would be a moment and she’d just _know_. But looking at Adora taking her warm-up shots only made her wonder how she got anything done when Adora was around.

Adora turned around and caught her staring. Fuck.

“Are you okay? You’re spacing out a lot today” Adora took a few steps towards Catra.

“Me? Oh, I’m good, yeah”

“No, you’re being weird, what’s going on?” Adora was getting closer. No. Bad. Closer is bad. 

Catra took steps backwards, trying to keep her distance, “Nothing’s going on” her voice sounded frantic, “Just stay over there”

That only encouraged Adora to get closer, it seemed. She crossed the distance between them in seconds and soon was a few inches away from Catra’s face. She began examining Catra at a close distance, “No, something’s wrong. Are you feeling sick?”

Catra felt frozen. Her body was betraying her. Obviously, all she wanted was for Adora to be this close, but she was afraid that at this proximity, she’d somehow see it. Like “into you” would be written in tiny letters on her forehead that Adora could only see this close.

Catra was trying to look anywhere but Adora, “I’m really fine, and this” she gestured to their closeness, “is totally not necessary”

Adora smiled but kept looking. From Catra’s perspective, it looked like her eyes had settled somewhere on her cheeks. Catra stayed, frozen, watching Adora watch her. That’s when she saw it. 

Adora’s eyes flickered down. Down to where Catra assumed her lips were. When they came back up they weren’t on Catra’s cheeks anymore, they were boring right back into Catra’s eyes. 

Oh my god, this is her moment. The one she was waiting for. This is when you _know_. Catra leaned forward and definitely cut Adora off as she was about to say something. It was worth it. 

Adora was warm and soft and everything Catra already loved about her. Catra waited for a sign that this wasn’t what Adora wanted. Instead, she felt Adora’s hands take hold of her waist and pull her closer. She felt Adora’s lips press against hers with more pressure. 

They were always able to communicate with each other without speaking, they had small touches that meant different things. Right now was no different. Catra brought her left hand from her side to behind Adora’s neck. She changed the angle of their lips and heard a soft sigh. She couldn’t tell if it had come from her or Adora.

She pulled away when she became overly aware of the fact that they were doing this on a public basketball court. Of course, they had their first kiss like this. 

Adora’s hands were still on Catra’s waist. They gripped her so lightly that she opened her eyes to make sure she wasn’t imagining it. When she opened her eyes she was met with the only gaze she’d ever felt safe under. Adora looked at her the same way in her car when she asked Adora to prom. Maybe Adora had been looking at her like this the whole time.

“Do you, um, do you want to go back to my car?” Catra asked softly, trying not to sound as vulnerable as she felt.

Adora smiled and whispered, “Are you asking to go make out in your car right now?”

Catra used the hand on Adora’s shoulder to hit her, “Not with that attitude I’m not”

Adora’s smile only grew. She hesitated for a moment before leaning closer to Catra and touching their foreheads. Catra could hear her trying to regulate her breath, “I’ll go wherever you go” she swallowed and slowly brought her left hand to Catra’s cheek.

Catra closed her eyes and breathed in the closeness, “Promise?”

When Adora didn’t respond, Catra opened her eyes again to see her still staring. It would be creepy if Adora’s gaze wasn’t so soft. 

Adora sighed, “I promise”

Catra brought her hand up to Adora’s. She grasped it and turned to walk towards her car, leading Adora. 

The next week was a whirlwind of staying out late and giggling in between kisses in Catra’s back seat. They hadn’t talked about what it meant, but they did decide that they should start looking for a one-bedroom for next semester, you know, since they hadn’t found a two-bedroom in their price range. That was definitely why.

\---

Adora got an email from Coach Weaver not even a week after Catra finally kissed her. It was like the universe was playing a cruel joke on her. They hadn’t been to her camp since last year, but she was still a sore subject for Catra. Catra didn’t know that Weaver had been staying in touch with Adora. She sent Adora some emails, almost all about college basketball.

This week, it was asking if Adora could come by the Hardwood Palace. Adora responded and said she could. It would be one last visit. A goodbye. 

“That was quite the game” Coach Weaver was sitting at her desk while Adora stood.

“It wasn’t our best but I’m just proud to have gotten there”

Weaver responded quickly, like she knew Adora would misinterpret her comment, “Oh I was talking about the Regional Finals. It must have been terrifying, trusting Catra with that last shot”

Adora wasn’t doing this. She didn’t respond to Weaver’s email so she could hear her bash Catra even more, “Not at all. I passed her the ball because I knew she’d make it”

Coach Weaver’s eyes narrowed, “Of course” She left the uncomfortable silence, knowing Adora would fill it.

“Can I ask why you wanted to see me?” Adora wanted to get out of here. She’d never been in Weaver’s office, and she’d be happy if she never had to be back.

“Yes, of course,” She leaned back and opened a drawer and pulled out a large white packet. It looked like the college packets she’d been receiving. Weaver offered it to Adora. 

Adora took a step towards the desk and took the packet, “What’s this?”

“My gift to you,” she leaned back and clasped her hands together, “I’ve spoken to BMU. If you recall, I mentioned having coached there in the past and my opinion is still held in high regard”

“What did you talk to them about?” Adora knew what she was insinuating, but she needed to be sure before she got her hopes up.

Weaver smiled, “You”

Adora stayed silent, urging Weaver to continue, “Adora, they were very impressed with your season this year ”

Adora felt her heart rate pick up, “You talked to them about me?”

“Yes, they’ll be in contact with you very soon. I only asked that I be allowed to deliver the good news myself” 

Adora didn’t know if she had it in her to ask the next question, “What about Catra?”

Weaver scoffed, “What about her?”

“Did you talk to them about her, too?”

“Adora,” Weaver drew out her name fondly, like she wouldn’t understand, “this is a prestigious school, they wouldn’t want to talk to her”

Adora felt herself panic, “All Catra needs is to get on the floor to prove herself”

Weaver’s tone was biting, “Then she should’ve worked harder to prove herself to _me_ ”

She took a breath and adjusted her sleeves, “This is what you’ve been working for Adora. This is your chance to prove yourself” Adora noted the sweetness she injected into her voice when the subject changed from Catra.

Weaver stood and leaned over her desk “Adora, my dear” she took her right hand and placed it on Adora’s cheek. Over the last few years, the affectionate touch had become more frequent, but never lost it’s threatening edge, “She’ll only slow you down” and just like that, she pulled the ripcord that brought Adora back to Earth.

Adora took a step back, still holding the packet.

“Adora, this is what you’ve been working towards for your entire life” her hand slid from Adora’s cheek and she sat back in her desk chair, “Do not disappoint me”

Adora took a breath, “Thank you for talking to them for me. Will they be contacting me soon?”

Coach Weaver nodded.

Adora continued, “Okay,” she opened the door to the office to leave “thanks”

Adora got BMU’s call that weekend. They were offering a partial scholarship. It was enough for Hope to be able to afford it. There wasn’t really a competition between FZCC and BMU. What made Adora’s decision difficult was Catra.

She couldn’t have taken it worse. She came over to help Adora purge clothes. She was sitting on Adora’s bed and Adora decided this is when it happens. 

Catra was going through Adora’s t-shirt when she blurted it out, “BMU offered me a partial scholarship for school”

Catra just looked up, confused.

Adora picked at the skin on her thumb, “And I’m gonna take it”

Adora could see the information settling over Catra, “Oh my god, you’re serious?”

“Catra, wait” She followed Catra as she got off of the bed, “Weaver talked to them for me. They’re giving me a chance. I didn’t think they would, but they are”

Catra’s eyes were wide, “You?” Adora nodded, “Weaver talked to them about you?”

She laughed, “Of course she did! Of course, when she finally decides to pull through on something it’s for _you_ ”

“Catra I-”

Catra’s hands bunched at her side, “-So what? You’re just gonna ditch me for a bunch of BMU princesses?”

“I’m not ditching you, Catra. There’s just different plans, nothing has to change”

“Yeah, but I’ve gotta find a new roommate, right?”

Adora looked down, “Probably”

“Hah! Why stop there, I should probably shop around for a new best friend while I’m at it!” Catra threw her hands, motioning at Adora, “It’s obvious the one I have now is gonna need to get replaced soon”

Adora felt tears creep past her defenses at that. She knew Catra wouldn’t take it well, but she didn’t expect _this_. 

Adora stepped towards her, trying to grab her hands, trying to ground her. 

Catra scrambled around the room, “Don’t _fucking_ touch me”

Adora stepped back, “Catra, please I didn’t want it to be like this”

Catra was yelling again, “What did you think was gonna happen?!”

Not this. Adora had felt so excited, she didn’t think about this. Her shame stewed into something else and she felt herself yelling back, “I don’t know, Catra, I thought maybe you’d be fucking happy for me! Not everything needs to be about you”

Catra looked disgusted and tears began to well in her eyes. Adora had hardly ever seen her like this. And it had never been directed towards her, “About me? News flash Adora, _nothing_ is about me” Adora could hear more than just momentary anger in her voice. How long had she felt like this? “It’s always about you. And if this is what you want, then fucking take it.” 

Adora felt frozen as she watched Catra grab her jacket and bag and walked out of the bedroom door. Adora followed her, lost on how to fix the situation.

“Catra, I..” Adora didn’t know what to say. How do you tell the most important person in your life that you need to do something that hurts them?

Adora followed Catra as she got to the front door and turned around suddenly, “You know what? I should thank you for ending this before your giant ego crushed me under it too”

She walked out the door and slammed it. Adora flinched at the sound. She opened it and saw Catra running to her car.

Adora ran after her and yelled, “Catra!” but she was already starting the engine and peeling out as quickly as she could. 

School without Catra was different. Catra would immediately leave any room that Adora walked into. Luckily, Adora had been nice enough to everyone in their grade that it wasn’t too weird when she ate lunch with girls she’d never eaten with. 

It seemed like Catra had made friends, too. She sat at a packed lunch table. Maybe Adora had been holding her back from being more social? 

Graduation was awful. Light Hope was so proud, but it all felt fake. Nothing felt the way it was supposed to.

Adora got pictures with everyone from her team. Well, almost everyone. Catra seemed to disappear right after they came out of the gym.

Adora couldn’t stand it after graduation. She missed her friend. She missed her... Whatever they almost were before it exploded.

Adora came around Catra’s house a week after graduation. Two months not talking to Catra was long enough. She usually texted Catra when she came over, but she didn’t want Catra to purposefully leave or not come to the door. 

When Adora knocked, Catra’s dad answered, “Oh, hello Adora” He turned to his side and cleared his throat, “What can I do for you?”

“Um, hi sir. Is Catra here? I need to talk to her” Adora hadn’t had a real conversation with him since she was sixteen. She didn’t miss it.

“Oh. Well, this is uncomfortable” he swallowed before continuing, “Catra is gone. She moved out three days ago”

Adora was frozen. Catra’s dad wasn’t one for jokes. He also had never lied to Adora as long as she had known him. If he said Catra was gone. She was gone. 

“I’m sorry” Adora blinked, “why.. Why would she leave? How” Adora couldn’t come up with a coherent thought if her life depended on it, “How could she not tell me?”

Catra’s father looked completely out of his element. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times before getting his words out, “I-- Well, she expressed to me that she wanted to move out early and she found a room that needed to be filled within that time frame” He explained it like he was reading a transcript, not reciting the moment his daughter left home forever. 

He continued, “I was confused when you didn’t assist her in moving, but she said you were busy” He looked her in the eyes, and she could almost feel his pity, “I thought you knew”

Adora felt the tears coming so she ducked her head down,“Could you-” she wiped her nose on her sleeve, “Could you tell me where she is now?”

“I’m very sorry. She explicitly told me not to tell anyone where she lives” he paused, “I think I know why now”

“Please”

“You know that I can’t. But I have no doubt that you two will figure this out. You were always very close” His version of a pep talk was over, but Adora had never felt less encouraged. 

They said their goodbyes and Adora was sure that would be the last time she saw him. Catra always talked about moving out and never looking back. Now that she was out, she was gone for good. Adora got back to her car and called Catra. Unsurprisingly, it was sent to voicemail. She opened her text and let the dam burst.

**Adora:** You just left?

Without telling me?

Please talk to me I want to fix this

I’m so sorry

I miss you

Please

I need you

Catra?

Adora always thought that she would section off her life as before and after meeting Catra. Suddenly it became before losing Catra and after losing Catra. 


End file.
